Yesterday, the 2007 winners were celebrated on the Tallinn, Estonia, Song Festival Grounds, as part of Baltic Innovation Week and the InnoEstonia Conference. The celebration of winners was the highlight of the two-day conference, including a workshop for the Baltic Challenge network, consisting of participating projects, the members of the international jury and managing partners, together with an exhibition of selected ICT projects.
Innovation Award
The award for Best Innovation project was given to Tiketa electronic ticket distribution system from Vilnius, Lithuania. The application provides easy access to tickets for cultural, arts, sports and leisure events.
"Since 2001," said the jury in a written statement, "the Baltic Sea region is also known as Mobile Alley. Number of global mobile telecommunications innovators and leaders are located here, mobile telephony penetration that exceeds ... 100 percent [is a] perfect homeground for mobile applications and services development companies. Yet the sophistication, user friendliness and mix of different rapid innovation methods made Tiketa the favorite of the jury. We especially would like to applaud the wide penetration of the Tiketa solution, compared to many other projects ... and wish them sustainable future and ever more rapid innovation during upcoming years."
eGovernance Award
The award for best eGovernance project was given to Online Computer System of Support for the Crisis-Management Center of Olsztyn, Poland, run by DART Uslugi Informatyczne,, Olsztyn, Poland. This solution is a self-designed and tailor-made online system for registering and monitoring various public events, co-ordinating city services (City Guards, Police, Fire Brigades), with vehicle positioning capability that uses GPS on a digital map of the city.
"We are often worried about the capacity of the municipalities to design and implement relevant eGovernment services," said the jury in its written comment. "Olsztyn is a city with a population under 200,000 and this professional e-service that has been developed and implemented in Olsztyn serves also as a landmark for other small municipalities in our region and Europe: yes, you can."
Jury Recognition Prize
As a special surprise of the evening, Jury Chairman Linnar Viik presented The Jury's Special Recognition Prize to Medicum -- a Web-based appointments and registration system with physicians in Tallinn, Estonia. Medicum also provides the patient with access to health records.
"Behind this simple, yet highly demanded service," said the jury, "Medicum is integrating a holistic eHealth solution, where patient data is stored in a modern, secure environment, [and includes] links with pharmacy, sick-fund and other important registries. During the upcoming years the Baltic Sea region will witness a number of national and cross-border, as well as privately tailored eHealth solutions and Medicum serves as a splendid example of work done."
Conclusion
"ICT is a powerful instrument for social and economic growth," said Stockholm Governor Per Unckel. "In our region, there are world-leading telecommunication companies, cutting-edge research and mature ICT users. It is here, in the Baltic Sea region, that some of the most interesting emerging markets in the world can be found. Eager entrepreneurs are strong driving forces, both for their own countries and for their neighbors."
The two main awards of 5,000 Euro were sponsored by Innoeurope. The award of Special Recognition of 1,000 Euro was sponsored by the company Kerfi AB and NordicEdge AB.
Quelle/Source: Government Technology, 09.11.2007
